A Face Like That
by Bizzy
Summary: Some spoilers, only because of involvement of characters in the future. Takes place at least 10 years post KH II. It's supposed to be cute, I failed miserably. OC involved, but done within reason. Please read and review, it makes me happy.
1. A Face Like That

**Welcome!** A few points: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. This is my first dip into the KH fandom. There is an OC in this story, but I think it was done well within reason and done well. Please read and review--if people like the character combination, I may write a few more oneshots.

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Without a hint of warning the sky opened up, dropping torrents of rain to the sandy ground of the Destiny Islands. The man sighed heavily, now wishing he had thought to bring an umbrella. The walk home would be far from tolerable now. Taking the ferry to the island was always a time to wind down for him. He knew that his closest friends lived just across the way, on the opposite side of the island—but he rarely saw them now. He couldn't bear to, not that little thing with _her_ hair and _his_ eyes. He had to remind himself that he wasn't jealous of them, no—he was happy for them.

It was the sound of sniffling that snapped him back to attention in the pouring rain. No, this wasn't sniffling he realized with a concerned frown; it was sobbing. Grumbling something under his breath, he knew that he couldn't just leave whatever was sobbing alone. He couldn't find it in his heart to leave it alone in torrential rain. It had to be a child; who'd wandered off a little too far and ended up a little too lost.

With that thought in mind, Riku followed the sound of the sobs until he came upon a small opening beneath a canopy of leaves. It looked as though it might make an effective shelter, but he knew from experience that it was hardly effective. Peering into the opening, he was met with a small, redheaded girl, her blue eyes wide and full of tears, clothes plastered to her form from the pounding rain and dash to find shelter.

Groaning, Riku crouched down, crawling a bit closer to the child to grab her attention, frowning at her. Of all the children to be found huddling under leaves on this island, he had to find _her_.

"Come on," he declared, wrapping one arm protectively around her wrist. "Get up. I can walk you home."

She sniffled, wiping her eyes and nodding, feeling him gently pull her to her feet. Blue eyes were wide and terrified, she didn't seem to like rain one bit. Having found her beneath the leaves reminded him of a time when he was younger; sent out to find those closest friends of his only to find them hiding under a rock. Shivering, cold and wet. Crying and terrified.

With a silent sigh, he realized how much the girl looked like both Kairi and Sora, with her hair and his eyes, and he - oh God, he resented them for it. She looked like a combination of her parents the night of that thunderstorm, sitting soaked under a pathetic canopy of leaves, too scared to go home. He remembered the look of terror on their faces, the tears on_ her _cheeks and the frustration in_ his _eyes.

She was staring at him, and he couldn't tell if the wetness on her faces was the result of tears, or the rain making a mess of her. He started to guide her forwards. The path to that house, he knew by heart; he could walk it with his eyes closed. She inched closer to him, still sniffling, burying her little red head into his arm.

"Y…you're Uncle Riku, right?" her voice was very quiet, wavering. And if she looked at him with his eyes one more time, Riku didn't know what he'd do with himself.

The taller man nodded slowly, "Yeah. And you're…" a pause, oh he knew the child's name, of course he did. But he couldn't help but pause, to try and bite back the frustration - the jealousy in his tone, "Rina."

She nodded. "Yes Sir."

Riku tried to calm down. Tried to ignore _her_ hair and _his_ eyes, which he could never do, not since the day that child was born. Not since the day, almost seven years ago, he stalked out of their door and never once turned back. He couldn't. They tried to call him. He wouldn't call back.

Rina was crying again, stumbling along in the sand, she was a tiny thing, wasn't she? Her feet were sinking into the ground as she tried to walk. All Riku wanted to do was deposit her at her front door and leave. Leave before she had a chance to call her mother and father, say to them, Look! Look who found her—the infamous and ever-absent Uncle Riku

"Don't cry," he said quietly, finding his tone softening. He couldn't stay mad at her. Rina was just a child. She didn't ask her parents to create her, she didn't ask her parents to leave their best friend behind and _no_ he wasn't jealous, he would swear on it. He was happy for them.

"It's dark out," she mumbled, still pressing her little body against him, and still stumbling along in the sand. She wasn't all that coordinated, Riku found himself thinking. That she must've learned from her mother.

"I know its dark out. It gets dark out when it rains," Riku focused green eyes on her, and sighed. They'd never get back to her house at this rate. She looked like she might weigh all of three pounds, with _her_ hair and _his_ eyes, and he couldn't just leave her – leave her to get drenched and soaked. He couldn't no matter how much he wanted to leave. And in the end, he didn't really want to leave her. Not this child. She hadn't done anything. It was her parents.

"I'm going to carry you," he declared then, slipping both hands beneath her arms and scooping her up from the damp sand. She tensed, but then relaxed as he balanced her in his arms.

"I'll get you home."

She sniffled, now resting her head against his shoulder, still trembling, "Thank you."

For a moment, Riku walked through pounding rain in silence, considering how best to approach the inevitable conversation between Sora, Kairi and himself. He would be showing up at their front door, at nine o'clock at night, with their child in his arms; how he could explain that away? _If_ he could explain that away. If they would assume the worst, or the best.

"It's cold," he could feel Rina shivering against his shoulder, and he freed one hand long enough to wrap his coat around her.

"It also gets cold out when it rains," he replied, tucking the coat around her as best he could to warm her.

And then it was there. That house.

That same little, wooden house, adorned with the same windows and doors. It looked exactly the same. Not a thing had changed spare the people inside of it. The lights were on, and the moment he started approaching the door, a figure came outside, leaving the front door wide open, and came sprinting into the rain.

"Rina!"

It was _her_. Riku recognized the voice immediately. He felt himself stiffen at the sound of her voice. And then, Kairi paused, "Riku? Oh…thank God. Where did you find her?"

And, as was expected, _he_ was all of a foot and a half behind; and for a moment, Riku would've sworn he saw anger. But the anger vanished the moment he saw Rina, who was now trying to get to the ground, and relief flooded his features.

"Rina! I looked everywhere for you!" He sounded furious, but his eyes betrayed his anger—the man was far more relieved than angry.

"I just went to go for a walk—and then—and then it started raining and it was dark and I was too—and I didn't know how to get back and—and—" Rina was stammering and Riku wanted her to stop. She sounded scared, but her voice was tinged with an almost bitter curiosity, "And Uncle Riku found me and he said he'd bring me home and he did! See!" Bitter curiosity, from a seven-year-old. How ironic.

Sora crouched down to Rina's level, pulling her close to him in a tight embrace. He was the paranoid type of father, wasn't he? He was, Riku decided. He was holding that child far too tight, with far too much fear of losing her in his eyes.

"I do see. Riku brought you home. That was nice of him, wasn't it, Rina?"

The girl nodded, pulling away from her father enough to look at her parents as a whole, her face one stupid grin, as she tilted her head. "Mommy, Daddy?" Rina asked, with the expert puppy-dog tone only a seven-year-old could master, "since…since Uncle Riku brought me home…could he come inside? He got all wet and it's cold and maybe we could make him some tea and have dinner with him too?"

And the moment the words came toppling from her mouth, Rina could sense the tension. Riku felt it as well and _God_ it was almost palpable, wasn't it? He wasn't sure who was angrier. Green eyes focused on Sora and Kairi, with a hint of malice; of _dare_ in his eyes.

"I think that's a very nice idea, Rina. Why don't you come inside? We can get you dried off and find you something to wear. If the rain doesn't clear up…" and Sora paused, as if he was almost making that declaration to the sky, though Riku wasn't sure if he _wanted_ the rain to stop or not, "… you can spend the night. Is that all right with you, Riku?"

It was hard to tell with the rain obscuring his vision, but he would've sworn that both Sora and Kairi were looking directly at him, almost pleadingly. Did they want him to come in? To stay? To reconcile a friendship that had been destroyed so long ago? Or was it simply for the sake of their child?

Riku felt a grin cross his features, though how genuine it was he couldn't be certain. "How could I say no to a face like _that_?"


	2. Goodnight Kiss

Standing in the house left Riku feeling painfully awkward. Sora had gone off to fetch something that suited his friend's height, and Kairi had taken the girl upstairs to get dried off. Crossing his arms, he peered around the sitting room, looking for scraps of memories which he may have been a part of. The mantle was covered with photographs, even some from their childhood days. The smallest smile crossed his face and he took a slow step forwards.

What stood out the most was a picture of the three of them, no, the four of them, the last time he had seen his friends on good terms, right outside of the front door he had just crossed. Sora was beaming like a proud father should, Kairi's exhausted grin was almost contagious, Riku was standing beside them, smiling almost sullenly—and there she was, wrapped up tightly in a blanket, a little redheaded child hardly big enough to make an impact on the picture spare that she was the focus. Everyone seemed to be leaning in towards the newborn Rina, their smiles directed towards her.

How ironic, it was, that Riku had stormed out of that house just a few weeks later, determined to never speak to them again.

"Hey," Sora said, clothes folded neatly in his hands holding a towel, too. "I'm not sure if these will fit great," he added, nodding as he placed them on the table. "But they'll have to do while we get what you're wearing dried off. Kairi won't have you walking around soaked to the bone. _Believe_ me."

Riku nodded slowly, hardly turning to face the younger man, still looking at the picture.

"You never got to take a copy of that picture, Riku."

He turned slowly. Sora was looking at him, blue eyes pleading, desperate.

"Do you have any other copies around?" the older man asked softly, almost hesitantly. Unsure if this was the right thing to ask — the okay thing to ask.

"I kept one. Its right behind the one you're looking at, in the frame. I guess…I kept hoping you might come back for it."

Foolish. Sora had always been foolish. Foolish for waiting and hoping that the answer and comfort he was so desperately seeking would come to him. And yet again, it might have taken a good seven years, but here Riku was.

"Why didn't you call us back?"

The question, simple and certainly not meant to be cruel, stung bitterly, and he swallowed thickly, shaking his head but offering no explanation. Riku took another small step forward, leaning into the picture, eyes seeking out the details. He picked out the white sweater Kairi was wearing, pink skirt. Sora had on a black top, and jeans. He had on a coat. The same coat he had been wearing when he showed up at the door all of a half an hour ago.

Carefully, he picked up the frame, turning it around in his hands. "I'm surprised you kept this."

"Why wouldn't I?" Sora replied, crossing his arms as he approached the taller man. The brunette immediately dismissed Riku's ability to completely shirk his question and took it as a sign that it was a subject better left alone.

"I would've thought that maybe you'd get rid of it. I'm not sure why." Riku let out a sigh, gingerly setting the frame back on the mantle, closing his eyes. He had thought that Sora and Kairi would've gotten rid of that picture years ago if only to make an attempt at removing a memory they wanted to leave behind. Removing the memory of him.

"You didn't take your copy of the picture," Sora declared, a sheepish grin crossing his features. "Don't you want it?"

Riku tensed, green eyes shifting their focus from the picture on the mantle to Sora, shrugging. "I don't know."

"If I gave it to you," Sora began, that very same grin on his face from when he was half his current size and a third of his current age, "would you at least keep it?" For a moment, Riku could swear he saw desperation in those cerulean blue eyes, the same blue eyes he had been looking into earlier this evening as his little girl silently asked for help.

"No," Riku replied jokingly, his tone softening as he felt the comfort of an old friendship settle around him. "I'd have to get rid of it. Why would I want it, anyway?" Turning from the mantle, a small smile crossed his features as he leaned his back against the wall, uncaring that his soaking clothes were still pressed against his skin and were now making him a bit cold. The physical cold didn't seem to bother him, anyway.

"You'd get rid of it?" the younger man exclaimed, feigning despair and dropping his arms unceremoniously to his sides. "That hurts."

Riku pushed himself off the wall, bending down to grab the pile of clothing and the towel. Gathering the pile of things in his arms, he started towards the bathroom door, which was precisely where it had been the last time he was in this house.

"Hey, Sora?"

The younger of the two had just moved towards the stairs, and turned, curious. "Yeah?"

"You know, maybe I would like a copy of that picture. The one you saved for me. It's seven years overdue," with a grin and a wave of his hand, the older disappeared into the bathroom, closing the door quietly behind them.

Sora smiled, turning from the stairs. He very carefully lifted the picture frame from the mantle, and turned the small tabs on the back, removing the backing of the frame. With the utmost of care, he removed a small envelope, and opened it. To his pleasure, the photograph was still there, with a small handwritten note on the back of the print. He slid the picture back into the envelope and placed the envelope on the table, before turning to go back up the stairs. Rina and Kairi should've been back down now and he was curious as to why they were still not present.

He could hear scuffling in his daughter's small room and knocked on the door. Swinging it open, he grinned at his two redheaded loves and moved to sit on Rina's tiny bed next to her. She was tugging at her pajamas and yawning.

"I thought you wanted to have dinner with Riku, Rina?" Sora asked, running his fingers through her hair.

The child yawned once again, rubbing her blue eyes and peering at her mother, "I'm sleepy. Do you think…do you think Uncle Riku would want to read just a story? I'm just sleepy now."

Kairi nodded, curiously shooting a look at Sora, "I think he'd be happy to read a story with you, Rina."

Immediately, Rina bounced off of the bed, her socks causing her to skid on the floor for a few moments before she came to a stop in front of a small bookcase. The child sifted through every book she had, until she felt that she had picked a suitable title. She stood, clutching the book tightly to her chest and giggling as she started towards the stairs.

"Uncle Riku!"

Bounding down the stairs, Rina rushed to the couch and jumped onto it, next to the now-dry Riku, who was waiting patiently for the family's return. He turned immediately as the child landed directly beside him and halfway in his lap, grinning.

"I brought a story, Uncle Riku! Look!" Small, pale hands shoved the book in his face and she waved it around just enough so that he couldn't make out the title. "It's a good story," Rina declared, lowering the book, yawning so much that her whole face seemed to disappear behind it. She offered the book to Riku, peering up at him tiredly.

"Do you want me to read that?" Riku asked, taking the book from her small hands and looking down at the cover. Now perfectly still, he found that he could make out the title of the book. The cover was well-worn and just by peeking at the pages on the side, he could tell that it had to be one of her favorite stories. _'The Velveteen Rabbit'_, the title read proudly in a gold-foil print, _'Or How a Toy Becomes Real'_.

"Yes, please," Rina murmured, sinking back into the couch and bringing both legs to rest underneath her, curling up comfortably to listen to the story.

"That's one of her favorite books," Kairi declared quietly, having followed her daughter into the room, "only _certain people_ can read it to her," the woman added, leaning slightly over Riku's shoulder as she looked down at the cover. Her far from indirect comment on the nature of the book was not lost on the older man, and he nodded slowly to her. Coming up beside her, Sora rested a hand on Kairi's shoulder and pulled her to the couch, the couple sitting down beside Rina.

Glancing up from the cover he paused, if only to take a moment to look at the duplicate looks of expectation coming from two pairs of blue eyes. With the three of them together, Riku could almost draw lines from the features that the child got from her parents—even the expressions. He tore his gaze away from the two parents and offered Rina the smallest smile, opening the cover.

Somehow, reading a bedtime story never quite struck the older man's fancy, and yet, he knew he couldn't say no to that face. _His_ eyes and _her_ hair, with both parents right beside her; he didn't have the heart to tell her no. She looked so hopeful, waiting for him to start reading. And so, he did.

_The Velveteen Rabbit_ was clearly a favorite of hers, just as Kairi had said and just as the book had screamed. Each page was well worn, the ink partially smudged and the corners folded inward slightly from use. The small pictures that went along with the book were beginning to fade, but Rina paid no mind to that as she listened to Riku read the story.

"This is the best part," Rina said sleepily, leaning her head on Riku's shoulder, and pointing to the page, tapping the picture of a fairy sprouting from a yellow flower. "The fairy is going to make the rabbit Real. Really Real," she paused to yawn, "it's the best part."

Riku nodded slowly, feeling the child burrow her head against him and cast her a sidelong glance, noticing that she was nodding off. Pausing just long enough to glance at the clock, he realized it was late, almost ten-thirty. By logic alone, he could reason that Rina was often in bed by around ten, so managing to stay awake long enough to hear most of her treasured story was quite the accomplishment.

When he could feel the child slip further back into the seat, slumping, he stopped, leaving the unfinished story to hang in the air, peering down at Rina. Sora shrugged, offering his friend a sheepish grin. "Just put the book on the table," he said quietly, nodding to Kairi as he stood from the couch, reaching out to scoop up Rina.

Riku shook his head, instead handing the book to Sora and slipping his arms around the sleeping child, careful to not move so much as to disturb her. With her head unmoved from its place on his shoulder, he managed to lift her off the couch and balance her as though she'd hardly moved.

By now, Kairi was on her feet and had taken the book from Sora, leading the way up the stairs to Rina's room. She was tiptoeing, and turned down the covers as the two men came in behind her. As Riku approached the bed, Kairi reached out and took a stuffed teddy bear from the nightstand, as if readying herself to tuck it in with the child. Riku gently placed the girl in her bed, and Kairi insisted upon pulling the sheets up, just right, tucking in the teddy bear in precisely the right position.

Yawning rather loudly, blue eyes looked up at her mother, "night Mommy," she mumbled, crawling out from the perfectly prepared sheets for her goodnight kiss. Standing on the bed, she reached out and got exactly what she wanted—a big hug and a kiss from Mommy.

Rina repeated this process with Sora, stretching out both arms for a hug and kiss from her father, before looking around the room, puzzled. She didn't immediately see Riku, who was standing almost awkwardly at the door, as he wasn't accustomed to tucking children in for the night.

"Uncle Riku?" she said quietly, dropping to her bottom and then climbing out of the bed. She padded across the room, stopping directly in front of Riku. She tugged at the side of his pants, trying to pull him down towards her. The man looked down and then crouched down to be at her level. Green eyes widened in surprise as the child threw both arms around his neck and pressed a small kiss on his cheek.

"Goodnight."


End file.
